Needing advice...

[secox28]

Hi everyone,

I have been renting points to stay at the villas, and I am trying to decide if I should just buy. We go to WDW about every year. My family has just grown to 5. I really like staying at all of the WDW resorts.

So, my question is this...
Is it really worth it to buy? Is it better to buy resale? I know that I can choose to stay in the resorts, but do the villas have the same magic?

I really don't like the idea of another monthly payment in my life, but I currently deposit $ into a "disney trip account" monthly anyway. Will I save $ in the longrun?

 

[rinkwide]

Why buy the cow when you're getting the milk for (almost) free?

 

[tjkraz]

Hi everyone,

I have been renting points to stay at the villas, and I am trying to decide if I should just buy. We go to WDW about every year. My family has just grown to 5. I really like staying at all of the WDW resorts.

If you're having those doubts, then just do the rental first and then make your decision.

So, my question is this...
Is it really worth it to buy?

Depends on your situation...financial and otherwise. Stay in that DVC room on your rental points and decide how much it's worth to you.

Is it better to buy resale?

For some, yes. For others, no. Resale will likely save you a few dollars per point that you buy. But it is more time consuming and you'll need to pay cash or come up with your own financing. Also, almost all of the resale contracts are at resorts OTHER than Saratoga Springs. These resorts only have 37 years remaining in their ownership period. If you buy points at SSR, you get 49 more years.

Ultimately, if you like one resort above and beyond the others, that is where you should own. The 4 month booking advantage at your Home resort can be important for the smaller properties. But, if you will consistently book on 7 months notice or less and/or do not really have a strong preference for a single resort, your Home isn't quite as important.

I know that I can choose to stay in the resorts, but do the villas have the same magic?

3 of the 5 DVC properties at WDW are attached to Deluxe cash resorts. The other two were designed by the same Imagineers and built with the same "Disney" philosophy. All of the resorts are staffed and operated by CMs who adhere to the same high-quality standards as the cash resorts.

The rooms themselves are better than 99% of the value, moderate and Deluxe resort rooms on-site, in my opinion.

We've stayed at both SSR and OKW--the two dedicated DVC resorts. There's really something to be said for the sense of cameraderie that exists when the vast majority of the guests know they are all sharing the same Home.

Will I save $ in the longrun?

Will you save money? Probably not. For a family of 5, you'll need to book a Two Bedroom DVC accommodation. 2Bs cost a lot of points, meaning that your buy-in cost will be fairly high as will your dues.

If finances are your primary concern, you will make out much better in connecting rooms at a Value or Moderate resort.

Theoretically some people could "save" money through DVC. But for most it's a question of getting much better accommodations for a fraction of their cash rates. You certainly wouldn't find me paying $600 per night for a 2B at SSR. But through DVC, my entire 5-night stay cost only 139 points. With annual dues of $3.80 per point, that same stay cost me about $528 for all FIVE nights. Of course that's not making any allowance for the intial $12K it cost to buy into DVC.

My point is that for roughly the same money I spent on that Two Bedroom through DVC, I probably could have gotten two rooms at a Moderate resort with discount codes. DVC didn't really save me any money--but it did afford me the opportunity to significantly upgrade my accommodations for the same money.

 

[disworldnum1]

One of the main reasons we stayed at BWV on our first stay was the fact they had kitchens. Due to family circumstances that was the most important aspect of our stay.We know everytime we come to disney we need a place to prepare meals and were going to have to pay the high price at one of the home away from home resorts. Even now when we come down for 2 weeks or more we just rent a vacation home off property.Our first visit costs us about 3000.00 and when we purchased the initial cost was about 12,000.00.So we figured after the first 4 stays we would be ahead of the game.( with the exception of maitenance costs) Now what we pay in those costs can rent us a 5 bed 3 bath vacation home with screened in pool right down off 192.But to be honest we stay at BWV every year and a vacation home every year and nothing beats Disney...nothing.It all comes down to economics...good luck in whatever you decide

 

[disney junky]

I would suggest you read the thread entitled, "Has the magic been lost?" This offers some tremendous insights from many people who have been long time owners. Most agree, it's much more than a financial decision. As previous posters mentioned, the quality of the accomodations are vastly superior to the moderately priced rooms. We've done the adjoining rooms at a moderately priced resort and it cost us over $300. We were still crowded and only went to the rooms to sleep. We had stayed at BWV on a promo and I honestly thought there had been some mistake, that there had been a mix up. I wouldn't let the family unpack until I made absolutely sure these were the rooms we were supposed to have. They were way too nice. It took us five years from our first DVC tour until we bought. Though I would never call it an investment, I know from watching the rent/buy board that I will never pay for anything I don't use. Please understand, I NEVER make impulse buys. I take forever to decide on major purchases, and as I have looked back on the decision to do this, I have no regrets. I simply look at it as prepaying my vacation for the next 37 years. DVC gives you more opportunity to save money with the kitchen and laundry facilities if money is the big issue. I hope some of these thoughts have helped. But mostly I see this as a home away from home for my wife and two children (now aged 20 and 19) as well as the future generation. Some people invest in a beach house or vacation home. We put our money in DVC.

 

[wtpclc]

If you don't take future vales adn intereest into account here's very basic rundown:

My SSR points cost me ~$5.50 per point, including maintenence. If you're renting, you're likely paying $10 per point. If you continue to rent every year, then buy for yourself and save $4.50 per point.

Like I said, very simplistic. If you plan on renting for the next 50 years, then you should just buy.

 

[bcvillastwo]

....................probably won't tell you things you don't already know but another point of view sometimes helps.

You are going to get all kinds of advice and most of the advice will be very good even though it's filtered through their own individual experiences and choices. I encourage you to read everything you can, consider it and then really tak time to think about why you are interested in DVC. This isn't just a financial decision, it's also an emotional one.

In my view, if you tend to go to WDW every year you may be a good DVC candidate but run the numbers, consider your own financial situation (being conservative--not politically--is the best policy) and try to avoid the trap of having your emotions impacting the decision too heavily.

Your are going to find that as you look at the financial aspects that there are various levels of precision that people use and advocate. Consider it all but do what makes the most sense for you.

Good luck